Part 3. The National Parks Service is created officially in this installment, back in 1916 – which is why this documentary miniseries is being repeated this year, on the Service’s centenary celebration. Check local listings.

2016

Apr

THE AMERICANS By David Bianculli

The FBI and the KGB are looking for the same missing agent – but they’re not working together, by any means, and whichever side gets there first may be bad news for this particular fugitive. And if the FBI and KGB find each other in the process, even worse…

2016

Apr

THE 3 PENNY OPERA By David Bianculli

Directed in 1931 by G.W. Pabst, this was a movie version of the Kurt Weill musical, the original German production of which, when translated, gave us “Mack the Knife,” as sung by Bobby Darin. (It also gave us, from the original German-language version, the blackout theme used by Ernie Kovacs in his still-amazing 1950s TV specials.) And when Darin was singing of “Mack the Knife,” he was referring to the killer character of Mackie Messer, played in this film by Rudolph Fors

2016

Apr

LOOKING AT TV AS MODERN ART By Eric Gould

TV was infamously deemed a “vast wasteland” and the “the idiot box.” But what we missed was that as a new medium — an electronic one — TV was first, at its core, one thing. It was modern art...

2016

Apr

THE VOICE By David Bianculli

Last night’s edition had a lot of performances with emotional tugs and pulls – and also a lot of song choices that made for a very impressive live TV show. (Alison Porter, shown here, was a standout once again.) Tonight we get the results, as one talented contestant is eliminated, and the remaining candidates are regrouped as the Top 10 for the 2016 cycle of The Voice.

2016

Apr

ROCK, ROCK, ROCK! By David Bianculli

Deejay Alan Freed assembled lots of seminal rock ’n’ roll acts into touring shows, and also placed them in a series of 1950s movies. This 1956 film is the third of five such ventures – and though The Ventures aren’t on the bill, lots of other great early rock acts are, including Chuck Berry, La Vern Baker, The Moonglows, The Flamingos, and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. Connie Francis is heard, too, but not seen – she provides the singing voice of the character pl

2016

Apr

MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. By David Bianculli

This series has been renewed for another season, which means ABC is happy – or happy enough – with the way this season has been going. And while it’s been a very drawn-out story line, it’s culminating in some more dramatically substantive and surprising episodes. The former agent Grant Ward, now a resurrected, mind-influencing other-dimensional Inhuman called The Hive, has emerged as this season’s “Big Bad” (a villain-identifying term coined by Buffy the

2016

Apr

THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA'S BEST IDEA By David Bianculli

Part 2: This repeat installment takes the idea of national parks and wilderness conservation into the 20th century. When I was a kid, I collected U.S. postage stamps, and there was a commemorative stamp devoted to conservationist John Muir – a five-cent stamp with a drawing of a man dwarfed by giant sequoia trees. After watching this episode, I learned why and how Muir earned his country’s stamp of approval. Check local listings.

2016

Apr

THE NIGHT MANAGER By David Bianculli

MINISERIES: This new adaptation of John Le Carre’s 1993 spy novel continues. Tom Hiddleston stars as a hotel manager, Olivia Colman as a determined detective, and Hugh Laurie as a wealthy and ruthless international arms merchant. Last week’s premiere episode was all about establishing these three characters and their motivations. Tonight, the detective recruits the hotel manager to infiltrate, and spy on, the arms dealer’s operation. For a full review, see David Hinckley’

2016

Apr

CHRISTINE BARANSKI REFLECTS ON FEMALE EMPOWERMENT AS ‘THE GOOD WIFE’ READIES ITS FINAL ARGUMENT By Alex Strachan

The Good Wife has experienced both highs and lows in its seven years as one of network television’s shining lights. If there’s one thing Christine Baranski will take with her, it’s the bigger-picture themes the series tackled...

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